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Southwestern Historical Quarterly

portune to me to tell Your Excellency that there is nomeans of resistance in Nacogdoches. The garrison,which has less than two hundred men, is out of sup-plies, and singularly, also out of munitions, since theship which left Vera Cruz with them over a year agowas wrecked. The cavalry is without horses, and hasa very small number of men. There is not one pieceof artillery.The rivers, deserts, and forests between this coun-try and there make access difficult from the Mexicanside. To regain it, once it is lost, would be a verycostly and arduous undertaking; therefore, it is nec-essary to provide defense, but this cannot be attemptedexcepting by immediately sending to Nacogdoches twothousand men with four light pieces, and particularly,a supply of money necessary for the construction ofbarracks. That presidio is surrounded by thirty welltrained tribes of savages, at peace with us, and theywill even help us in war if adequate defense measuresare taken: if not, they will work against us, just aswill the majority of North Americans. Since the latternumber no less than fifteen hundred families, I believeit is my duty to inform you of these matters that youmay acquaint the President with them.71The attempted invasion of Mexico by Spanish troops atTampico in the summer of 1829 made it necessary for GeneralMier y Teran to go to that place to aid in repelling it. Weshall see, though, that instead of removing him from affairsin Texas, this was one of a series of events which more closelyestablished his connections with that department.71Mier y Ter~n to the Minister of War, Matamoros, July 24, 1829, inArchivo General de Mexico, Guerra, Frac. 1, Leg. 7, op. mil., 1836. TheUniversity of Texas (Barker) Transcripts.